National Junk Food Day: Celebrate With the 7 Best Childhood After School Snacks

Culture

Ready to exercise that sweet tooth? Or are salty treats more your style? In honor of National Junk Food Day, which was this past Sunday, July 21, what better way to celebrate than with nostalgia and breaking out the seven best childhood after-school snacks?

1. Twinkies

Like the legend of the phoenix, Twinkies have risen from the ashes and returned to food store shelves across America, much to the delight of children and adults alike. After eight months off the market, Twinkies are back with a bang and consumers are snatching them up fast. Plus, you can trick yourself into thinking they are healthier for you since the new Twinkie is slightly smaller than the original version.

2. Doritos

The eternal debate rages: Nacho Cheese or Cool Ranch? I for one will always choose the latter, but you really can’t go wrong when it comes to the nacho chips dusted with powdered deliciousness. You get bonus points celebrating the holiday if you go to Taco Bell and order one of the chain’s Doritos Locos tacos.

3. Cheetos

With 19 — NINETEEN! — varieties on the market, you don’t have to stick to the classic cheese version of the crunchy snack hawked by Chester, easily the coolest cartoon cheetah to walk the face of the earth. The best part of Cheetos: Licking the orange powder off your fingers after polishing off a bag. 

4. Oreos

Oreos aren’t just milk’s favorite cookie: They are the most popular in the world. Oreos have been around for more than a century, but eating the cream-filled chocolate cookie confection never gets old. With countless varieties on the market, the only question is the method to how you eat it. Do you twist off the top and eat the cream, or do you eat the whole thing at once?

5. Fruit By The Foot/Fruit Roll-Ups

Nancy Pelosi solved the “snackage” debate on “Late Night with Jimmie Fallon,” but you really cannot go wrong with either of these choices — you either get three feet of chewy awesomeness or a candy-esque treat that can give you tongue tattoos. 

6. Dunkaroos

The dark-horse candidate to make this list, Dunkaroos were always a go-to treat after a hard day’s work of multiplication, grammar, and playground games at school. One of the greatest challenges of childhood was finding the proper ratio of dip to cookie to ensure you had some dip remaining for the last cookie in the package.

7. Gushers

Biting into a Gusher and letting the gooey center explode in your mouth was one of the finer pleasures in life back in the day. Why not bust out a pack and loose yourself to the sticky sweetness?